The Law of the New Musical Author

Authors

• Eyal Brook, Harry Radzyner Law School, Reichman University

Abstract

The process of musical creation has been transformed materially in the Digital Age due to technological developments, both regarding the technologies for making music and regarding novel stylistic developments. New musical practices, based on novel technology, afford entirely new modes of creative authorship. The effects of such shifts have redefined the nature of music and the role of musicians in fundamental ways. This article opens a new debate regarding the identity ofthe new musical author and the changes to the musical creative process.

As such changes have impacted the musical creative process, there are necessary changes required to adapt the law to modern reality and the regular use of advanced technology. There seems to be a radical disjuncture between copyright law and the social practices it supposedly aims to govern. Copyright assumptions about creation may be quite contrary to how musical creation actually occurs. Musical authorship as a pivotal concept in copyright law should be re-calibrated to better suit the current musical practice and landscape in order to keep up with new forms of digitized expression. What follows is a proposed redefinition of a series of terms with altered meanings in the Digital Age that have yet to be accounted for, in particular, with regards to what it means to be a musician in the Digital Age.

Disciplines

Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law | Intellectual Property Law | Law | Science and Technology Law

Recommended Citation

Eyal Brook, The Law of the New Musical Author, 42 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 27 (2024).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoaelj/vol42/iss1/4